The State Police Bill is set to reach President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday for assent after securing approval from 29 of Nigeria’s 36 state Houses of Assembly.
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, announced the development during Wednesday’s plenary session, which he presided over, describing the endorsement as a significant breakthrough in efforts to establish state police.
“The State Police Bill has received the backing of 29 State Assemblies. Later today, the Clerk to the National Assembly will transmit it to the President for assent,” he said.
The endorsement by the state legislatures satisfies the requirement for constitutional amendments to receive support from at least two-thirds of the 36 state assemblies.
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The proposed reform seeks to end the country’s centralised policing arrangement by allowing individual states to establish and oversee their police formations alongside the Nigeria Police Force.
Proponents of the amendment have argued that decentralising the security system would improve responses to local threats and enable state authorities to address security challenges within their respective jurisdictions more effectively.
Under the proposed arrangement, state governments would assume greater responsibility for maintaining security within their territories, while the Federal Government would retain its own police structure.
The bill’s transmission to Tinubu marks the next phase of the constitutional amendment process, following its approval by the National Assembly and the required number of state legislatures.
More to come…